The Sacred Manager Life - Chapter 38
“I found a video Jeongwon recorded at the hospital. It’s a farewell message to her family.”
“Ah…”
“Her mother told me that in her final days, she was unconscious. She probably never got to say goodbye properly. And you… you didn’t even go to her funeral.”
She tried to hold back her sobs, but eventually, tears began to drip onto the floor.
“With this body… looking this disgusting… how could I go?”
“Maybe Jeongwon thought about that too. She left you a message in this video. She filmed it but got too sick to send it to your mother.”
“…….”
“I watched it first to check if the file was okay. I’m sorry for seeing it without your family’s permission. But I really want you to watch it. It has the answer to what you just said wasn’t possible.”
“…I’ll watch it.”
I turned on the TV and plugged in the USB.
As soon as Jeongwon appeared on the screen, sitting weakly on a hospital bed, Jeongah’s sobs grew louder.
*
The beginning of the video was a message to their mother.
She thanked her for raising her well, apologized for being stubborn about not going to high school, regretted taking out her frustration on her when she didn’t make the debut team.
She spoke calmly about all the things she was grateful and sorry for.
Then, she started talking about Jeongah.
“I overheard Trainer and Mom talking.
They said your singing and dancing were better than mine, so maybe you’d be better off as an idol than an actress.
That they wished we could switch paths.
But I was so jealous back then… I insisted that no matter what, I had to do it.
Hic… I’m sorry, Jeongah.”
“When the bullying scandal happened, I begged Mom not to mention our family.
Instead of worrying about you, I only thought about what would happen if I debuted and it caused problems.
I was so selfish.
And now, as I’m about to die, I regret everything… I’m so, so sorry.”
“If you’re watching this, I hope you leave your room.
I’m gone now, so who’s going to take care of Mom?
And… this is just my personal wish, but… if you ever get the chance, I’d love for you to stand on stage instead of me.
It was supposed to be your place to begin with, but I took it from you… and I feel so guilty about that.”
“If you go on stage, Dad and I will be cheering for you from the sky. So please, try. This is my last request.”
The video ended with her waving.
Even though I had already seen it, tears welled up again at this part.
Tears streamed endlessly down Cha Soyeon’s cheeks.
They weren’t for show—she was genuinely heartbroken.
“Huuu… Heuaaaa… Heuuuuuung!!”
Jeongah collapsed onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, and eventually lost consciousness.
I waited until her breathing steadied, then placed my hand on her forehead.
*
“Can you really… turn me into a girl group member?”
“Do you want me to repeat what I said earlier?”
At Cha Soyeon’s sharp words, she flinched and lowered her head.
“It’s just… it sounds too unrealistic. My body is like this, they say the group is a failure, I can’t even go outside… It just seems impossible.”
As if that wasn’t enough, she hit us with a final blow in a trembling voice.
“How can a school bully… become an idol?”
Even if she agreed, that was the biggest concern.
She had dropped out, but the school’s disciplinary record remained.
Once the group started gaining attention after their comeback, it would definitely come up.
Military service and school violence were the two quickest ways for a celebrity’s career to collapse.
‘If this is real, there’s no way Jeongah would appear in the future video.’
Since school violence won’t be a problem, the gift of prophecy must have shown me Jeongah.
“About the bullying… your mother didn’t seem to know much. Tell me what really happened. Because looking at you now, you don’t seem like a bully at all.”
Cha Soyeon nodded in agreement.
The trembling girl in front of us, looking more like a scared hamster, being a school bully?
It just didn’t make sense.
“I did fight, but I wasn’t the one who started it….”
Han Jeongah was the most eye-catching freshman in the acting department.
From the beginning of the semester, she received a lot of confessions from male students, but since she wasn’t used to boys, she rejected them all.
“One of the guys I rejected was someone Seo Yeji had a crush on.”
“Who’s Seo Yeji?”
She was another freshman in the acting department.
She had always been bitter about Jeongah being more popular, and when she found out about the boy, she exploded.
From then on, Yeji started bullying Jeongah.
“I could tolerate the little things, like getting hit as a ‘joke’ or being isolated by our classmates….”
But then, rumors started spreading that she was sleeping around with the boys who had confessed to her.
That she was involved in compensated dating.
The source of these disgusting rumors always traced back to Seo Yeji and her little followers.
“I couldn’t take it anymore, so I confronted her and asked why she was doing this. But she wouldn’t even listen. She just cursed at me and slapped me, so I….”
At first, she had been hit.
But Yeji wasn’t physically strong, and Jeongah had always been active and athletic.
Her so-called “friends” stopped the fight quickly, but somehow, the school found out, and a disciplinary committee was held.
“You know what’s ridiculous? All I did was tell her to stop spreading lies, but I became the attacker who threatened her with a box cutter and beat her up over a boyfriend.”
Yeji’s followers all testified against Jeongah.
With multiple witnesses backing the same story, a simple fight turned into a severe bullying case involving a weapon.
Jeongah even requested to check the CCTV footage, but the school ignored her plea, following orders from above.
“Even my homeroom teacher wouldn’t listen to me. The vice principal kept pressuring me to just admit it. And… hic… even my mom got mad, asking if I had nothing better to do than start fights.”
That was when Jeongah locked herself in her room.
It had already been two years.
“No matter how many witnesses there were, that’s way too one-sided. You never even admitted to it, and they went straight to punishing you? And why wouldn’t they show the CCTV footage?”
“Because of Yeji’s dad.”
“Her dad?”
“Some kind of vice minister… anyway, a high-ranking official. He came to the school, and I saw the chairman and the principal bowing to him like servants.”
Cha Soyeon and I exchanged glances and nodded.
At this point, it was obvious.
Her father had used his influence to pressure the school into covering for his daughter.
[Unless you plan on beating that man to death, calm down. Your gift of superhuman strength is starting to activate.]
‘I won’t lie… I kinda want to.’
A delicate hand, like those described as “slender jade fingers,” gently touched my shoulder.
It was Cha Soyeon.
“I know what you’re thinking, Juwon.”
“…….”
“You’re wondering how to clear Jeongah’s name, right?”
She could see not just my aura but even my thoughts now?
“This has to be solved first. You know how deadly a school bullying scandal is for a girl group.”
No matter how talented she was, if the label of a “bully idol” stuck to her, their comeback was doomed.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“This?”
“Yes.”
I don’t get it.
Cha Soyeon is top-class, sure—but only in the entertainment industry.
How does she plan to solve a school bullying case that even involves a high-ranking official?
“You look like you don’t believe me.”
“No, it’s just that…”
“Ahh, looks like I need to prove that your woman is actually an incredible problem solver.”
She raises her voice deliberately, puffing out her chest with exaggerated confidence.
Your woman?
Seriously?
“Just leave it to me. I’ll take care of it, no doubt.”
Then she gestures toward Jeongah.
“You don’t have time to worry about the bullying case right now, Juwon. How are you going to get the company to approve her? Do you really think you can take her in this state and convince Chairman Park?”
Of course not.
Forget the chairman—just showing her to the team leader would be enough to make him ask if I was trying to ruin the company.
“You just focus on turning her into an idol. That alone is going to take all your time.”
“But how exactly are you going to resolve the bullying case? I mean, neither of us really knows much about that kind of thing.”
“The method doesn’t matter. What matters is that I can do it.”
Then she turns to Jeongah.
“And you.”
“Huh? M-me?”
Jeongah flinches and looks at Cha Soyeon.
She’s been properly trained already.
“I’ll make sure to clear your name. If I do that, will you follow Juwon and become an idol?”
“I… I…”
“Answer clearly!”
“Aaaaah! I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
She throws herself onto the floor, bowing deeply.
“I’ll do it! If Soyeon-nim takes care of it, I’ll do whatever he tells me to do!”
“You heard that, right?”
Cha Soyeon turns to me with a triumphant smile.
For some reason, that smile feels extra heartwarming today.
*
“Since you made a tough decision, I’ll give you a reward.”
“A reward?”
A question mark practically pops up over Jeongah’s head.
“You said your favorite actress is Han Sora, right?”
Her eyes go round as if I just read her mind.
“I’m close with Sora unnie. She said she wants to encourage you to do your best, so I’ll connect you two.”
“W-wait… a-are you serious?”
Her words and actions break off awkwardly like a malfunctioning doll.
She must be really shocked.
“Just wait a second.”
Then Soyeon makes a video call.
“Oh, Soyeon. Did everything go well?”
A smooth, distinctive voice rings out, instantly captivating.
It’s unmistakably Han Sora.
“Yep, Jeongah decided to become an idol. Can you cheer her on?”
“Really? That’s great. Turn the screen around.”
Cha Soyeon flips the phone toward Jeongah.
“So you’re Jeongah? You’ll be pretty once you lose weight.”
“Uh-huh-huh, uh… ahhh… Kyaaah!”
She fainted again.
Is this another case of vasovagal syncope?
[Yes. Her blood pressure dropped suddenly, reducing blood flow to her brain. When someone is already extremely nervous, an additional shock can trigger the parasympathetic nervous system’s response…]
Forget that. Can’t this be completely fixed?
[Even human doctors can’t completely eliminate the symptoms. Since it resolves naturally, it’s not even considered a disease.]
So even the divine gift isn’t all-powerful.
“What should we do? She looks like she was too shocked.”
At that moment, another face appeared on the screen.
“Who are you talking to? Why is it so loud? Huh? Oh, Soyeon!”
“Long time no see, unnie.”
The screen was slightly tilted, but that face.
It was definitely Oh Yujin.
Years had passed, but the presence of someone who once dominated the stage remained unchanged.
Why are those two together?